The End of the Snake, and the Plumber who Loved Him
by SonicGurl98
Summary: Just when Snake thought he was out, Otacon pulls him back into the world of espionage to figure out the unknown motives of the most unknown man to be a pop culture icon - Mario. What will Snake learn of Mario, and himself, in the last days of his life? Solid Snake/Mario


Another day was completed. David was watching the sun set, once again—and again, feeling as though it may be the last time he would see it. It was 2017, and he was still alive... and yet, no matter how many times he reminded himself of his 'father's' wishes, he would occasionally experience a feeling of restlessness. He was, in a literal sense, watching the world every day, letting time pass, but yearning to do more so that he might find peace within his self.

Then, right as the sun escaped his sight, his codec began beeping. Every muscle in David's aged body tensed when he heard it, but his sense of reason calmed him after some thought—recalling that the only one who could be calling was Hal.

Forming a modest smile, David at last stood up from his chair and walked over to where he had left the codec. It was in his room, on the desk next to his bed, where he had left it, from fiddling with it earlier that day on a whim. Picking it up, he gave it a look, furrowing his brow as he inspected it. He brought it to his ear, like he used to do so long ago, and—fighting the pang of anxiety from hearing the beep right by his ear—answered the call.

"Snake," crackled Hal through the codec to his ear, the use of the old codename causing David to flinch, "can you read me? These things are supposed to get better as time goes by, right?" He could hear his old friend chuckle, which elicited the same from the old hero.

Once the chuckling had died down momentarily, David spoke up, offering, "That's not usually the case, in my experience." He then wasted not one more second and asked, "Now what're you calling me over the codec for? How come you're calling me 'Snake?' I know you know my name." Having been out of the espionage 'business' for years, it was odd and off-putting to hear that name.

There was a pause. David wondered if it was Hal considering how he might feel about it, but his thoughts were interrupted by Hal as he answered, "The reason I'm calling you over the codec is because I can't afford to let this conversation be monitored and I'm calling you Snake because I'm not calling you over for a picnic... you're not going to like this, but I need you to do one last mission. For me."

It wasn't what David wanted to hear, to put it lightly.

With a heavy sigh, the former soldier resigned himself to it without a fight, merely telling the man in the codec, "Well tell me what it is, then, if it's that important... Otacon." This wasn't what he had planned for the rest of his night, but he figured he had nothing better to do, sardonically questioning, "What'll it be this time? Do I need to break into the Oval Office? Or maybe I need to make a _patriot_ of myself and steal candy from a baby because their parents are _communists._ "

"Now don't worry, Snake, it's nothing like that. I just need you to go undercover and tell me what... let's say, a 'former acquaintance' is like, threat-wise," Otacon informed Snake, piquing the grayed man's interest. Not wanting to leave the man in suspense for another moment, he revealed, "it's Mario."

Yes, perhaps the most famous and well-known video game star of all, _that's_ who he needed to 'gather intel' on. "... You're kidding, right?" Snake asked, "He's _Mario._ Who doesn't know about the guy, you can't go anywhere in the world without seeing his face come up somewhere. What are you on, Otacon?"

Like it was his job—as it had been for so long—Otacon handled Snake's dismissiveness like a parent attempting to coax their child to try the blasted green veggies already, finding the strength to simply ask, "Snake, what does Mario like to do for fun?" When Snake could not supply a timely response, he pressed further, "Why does he really rescue the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, what's his motive there? Do you know, Snake? Do you even know what his favorite color is?"

"... I mean, it's gotta be _red,_ right?" Snake guessed.

Faintly hearing a sigh on the other end, the soldier could hear the patience thin in Otacon's voice as he merely told him, "Snake, look down at your shirt," When he did, the man in the codec continued, "is it your favorite color?" Once again, silence was the only answer Snake gave to him. "I thought so. Mario is an unknown and recent findings have made that fact... disquieting. Can you make it to the airport, tonight?" Otacon inquired.

Warily, Snake braced his aged knees before he stood up to look to his clock. Snake answered, before posing a question of his own, "Sure. What about luggage, money, and my ID?"

"All taken care of, save for one wrinkle—er, detail, haha," Otacon laughed, eliciting an eye-roll from Snake, "I'd just like your input on this, because it'll matter: what should your name be?" Asked the man in the codec, "It has to be something that'll come natural to you, that you can remember easily without taking a suspicious amount of time to recall," the 'spy' nodded along and made a grunt of affirmation. "Oh," Otacon added, "and don't take too long thinking about it. Besides, you should get a better idea if you don't overthink it."

He chuckled, "Got it. No pressure." In truth, Snake felt quite a bit of pressure as he searched his mind frantically for name ideas, then stammering out at last, "D-David. David." Once it was said, he could hear the sounds of papers shuffling and several keystrokes being made.

Not too long afterward, Otacon stated, "It'll be in your luggage. You're going to ' _New Donk City'_ on a commercial flight, your luggage should be waiting for you when you arrive, and... well," he could hear Hal chuckle, "I think you won't have too much trouble spotting it. Just look for the one with anime all over it."

Once again, Solid Snake's eyes rolled like they were evading enemy fire. "Never change, pal," he told him as he tapped the button to 'hang up' the call, exited his home, and made his way to his car. Switching the car on, he heard the engine roar like a lion awakened from a long slumber. "Kept you waiting, huh?" Snake smirked, before backing out of his garage and driving over to the airport.

* * *

"Hey, hey _handsome_ ," a soft voice called his attention, waking him up from his sleep. Snake opened his eyes and focused them on where the voice was coming from, finding a woman with straight hair. "First of all, you _do_ snore," she started, "and secondly, we've arrived now, so... if you could get up from your seat and stop blocking me..." her voice trailed off into nods, urging him to get off his bum.

Groggily, the undercover agent looked down and found the seatbelt, proceeding to unbuckle it and get off of his seat. "Thanks, uh... Sharyn," he recalled her name, "sorry for snoring," he smiled, before walking out of the airplane and into New Donk City airport. Usually he'd have flown in a private jet and parachuted down to a secure area, but on such short notice and little resources, they could only manage this.

Upon reaching the end of an escalator's descent, he resumed walking over to where the luggage would be, waiting for it to arrive. It was then that Sharyn caught up with him, making her presence known by speaking, "So, do you know where you'll find this person you're coming here to meet?"

It then occurred to Snake that perhaps she had taken a 'liking' to him, which made his lips promptly form a smirk. "Let's just say he 'gets around,'" he replied, keeping his gaze coolly fixed on where the luggage would emerge out of. "I've been around myself, I should be fine," he added, as the luggage arrived, at last.

"'The heck is that?" Sharyn reacted, as Snake's luggage arrived.

At first Snake was unsure what she meant, until he recalled what Otacon had told him the night before of what the luggage would look like. It, true to what he had been told, had 'anime' all over it... only it was completely comprised of women in very revealing swimwear. Snake turned to Sharyn and began to explain, "Look, it was my friend's—" but before he could go on she was already distancing herself from him. Sighing, he gave a one-finger salute to Otacon wherever he was and picked up his luggage.

His time at New Donk City wasn't necessarily off to a great start, but this was only a vacation as far as the government was concerned. For Snake, and Otacon? It was a mission, first and foremost. He wasn't there to have 'fun.' With that in his head, he finally exited the airport and made his way to the nearest alleyway. When he did, he crouched into it, looking through the luggage to find essentials – money, identification, etc. He found a wallet and opened it up, finding a credit card, cash, and 'his' driver's license—or rather, a man by the name of 'David David''s driver's license. "That's not what I meant, Otacon, I can't believe this!" Snake groaned, before shoving it back in his wallet and then shoving said wallet back into the back pocket of his shorts.

Without spending one extra moment in that alley, he emerged from it and made his way to the hotel Otacon had reserved a room for him in. The receptionist was polite, the staff was courteous, but all the accommodation in the world could not lift the spirits of _David David._ Fatigue over being on yet another mission, even after having been off 'the field' for so long, was setting in fast—leading him to all but collapse on his bed as soon as the staff left him in his room. Only in that moment, of all moments, Snake knew, could Otacon have chosen to call.

Begrudgingly, he received the call. "Snake, can you read me? What's your status?" Crackled Otacon through the codec.

"I can read you," Snake grumbled, weakly, "I don't know if I can do this, Otacon..." He combed through his mustache with his digits, feeling. "I've just made it to my room and I already feel like I'm gonna drop dead... well, I've already got the first part down, anyway..."

Concernedly, Otacon responded, "I read you... and I understand. I know I was asking a lot when I sent you to New Donk City, and I really appreciate you doing this for me. I promise, I wouldn't have asked you to do this if I wasn't deeply concerned by what we've recently learned of Mario. In this city, reportedly where he comes from, there are people who look not unlike you and I, and yet... Mario still looks just like one of my Japanese Animes."

Snake let out a light chuckle upon hearing that last part, recalling the time they first met, before mentioning, "Say, I met a woman at the airport, she _loved_ the anime girls," smiling as his friend stammered while making a futile effort to explain himself – a nice, happy moment that was halted by a dulled pain irritating Snake's back. "Crap bed..." he mumbled to himself.

"I'm not going to ask you to push yourself too hard, Snake," Otacon assured his ally, "you can rest if you need to, but we don't know how long Mario is going to stay here. I need you to locate him. Soon." As Snake listened, he took a look outside. Having flown overnight, it was just the beginning of noon. There was still a whole day right in front of him... it would be a waste to sleep through all of it, he thought.

Against his own better judgment, Snake stood up once more, replying, "What the hell, sure. I'll go look," hitting the button on the codec in his ear to end the conversation. He exited his room, then the hotel that it was in, greeted once more by the exhausting sight of the bustling New Donk City. The quiet in his ears was disturbed by the sound of car horns blaring through the streets, tires screeched, and everyone talked too much. Snake was not a religious man, but right then he knew there was a hell – he was in it.

Even so, the strength was found to walk on and search. He looked through windows, squinted to see the other side of the street, gazed up at rooftops in case the plumber had managed to get himself up there for whatever reason. All to no avail. Snake was so spent, one hour into the search, he sat down in a chair next to a table that had an umbrella, to protect himself from the sunlight that was melting him like wax. A stranger, possessing a light voice with a heavy accent, inquired, "What's-a the matter? I've-a seen that-a face before, it's-a never good news."

Letting out a light chuckle, David replied, "I'm supposed to meet someone here, but," without giving it much thought, he blinked and turned his head to face the man he was sitting with, "for the life of me, I just can't find h—!"

There he was – clad in his signature red hat, shirt, and blue overalls, was the one and only Mario. They stared at one another for a moment, and then another, before the plumber broke the silence and said, "Hello! It's-a me, Mario! Wa-hoo!"

"Oh _come on..._ " Snake sighed to himself. It was going to be a long day.

 **To Be Continued**


End file.
